The present invention concerns fastening an attaching eye to the base of a dashpot by welding. Eyes of this type are employed to attach automotive dashpots to the superstructure and/or to the suspension of a motor vehicle. The connection between the eye and the base of the dashpot must be able to withstand considerable stress and must be absolutely reliable in that its destruction would be very detrimental to safety.
Fastening attaching eyes to dashpot bases by welding is known. The eye is fabricated in the form of a ring and preferably fastened to the base by impedance-compression or protective-atmosphere welding.
There are, however, drawbacks to this approach. First, the eye must be positioned very precisely against the base, which requires complex tooling. Furthermore, the life of the joint is very limited.
The object of the present invention is accordingly to simplify tooling and provide a more reliable weld.
This object is attained in accordance with the present invention by the characteristics recited in claim 1. Advantageous and advanced embodiments are addressed in claims 2 and 3.
The present invention has several advantages. First, it is unnecessary to weld the parts together in a protective atmosphere. This is because welding begins as the eye is applied to the lateral edges of a W-shaped groove, whence it proceeds toward the center from outside. A V-shaped outward-tapering longitudinal abutment of the eye subsequently comes to rest against the elevation of the W. The weld then terminates in a lateral interconnection that ensures longer life subject to varying stress.